On his first visit to St. Valery in the 1990’s our President, Roy Calthorpe had a strong sense of déjà-vue.
When Roy returned home, he found among his father’s papers several photos of St. Valery in the early years of the twentieth century.
There was one card with a message saying, “Today I walked out to a promontory overlooking the Bay and found this ‘Chapelle des Marins’.” His father had been convalescing in St. Valery, spending several weeks there during WW1. However, like many returning soldiers, he never spoke to his family of his wartime experiences.
This story has inspired the exhibition, using old postcards and taking views of the same scenes today.